JPMorgan Chase is the most attractive employer for U.S. business students, signaling a shift to tried and true employment pipelines in an uncertain job market.
What a difference a few years makes.
In 2022, when tech was still flying high, business students wanted to work in FAANG – the now out-dated acronym for the five best-performing American tech stocks of the time (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google.)
That year, three of the top five of the Most Attractive Employers in the U.S. were FAANG: Apple was voted the most attractive by business students followed by Google at No. 2. Amazon was No. 4 another tech behemoth – Microsoft – came in at No. 3.
But in 2025? None of them cracked the top three.
Facebook is now Meta. Google is Alphabet. And amid high-profile layoffs and the disruptive rise of artificial intelligence, tech’s luster has faded. Business students are coming back to their finance roots.
All three of the top employers in Universum’s 2025 Most Attractive Employers in the U.S. ranking are bulge-bracket banks: JPMorgan Chase took the No. 1 spot for the second straight year, followed by Goldman Sachs (No. 2) and Morgan Stanley (No. 3)
Universum, the global employer branding firm, surveys more than 130,000 business, engineering, and IT students across 11 key markets each year to complete its ranking. In the U.S. alone, more than 33,000 students – including thousands of MBAs and business students – shared their career preferences in the 2025 survey.
This year, five of the top 10 most attractive employers for U.S. business students were banks or asset managers. Just three were in tech.
JPMorgan Chase was No. 1 for the second straight year while Morgan Stanley made one of the most dramatic moves on the list. It rose 9 spots from No. 12 in 2024 to No. 3.
Other newcomers to the top 10 included Deloitte, BlackRock, and Bank of America, signaling renewed interest in firms and industries with established business school pipelines.
1
JPMorgan Chase
Banking
1
2
Goldman Sachs
Financial Services
4
3
Morgan Stanley
Financial Services
12
4
Apple
Technology
3
5
Technology
2
6
Nike
Consumer Goods
5
7
Deloitte
Professional Services
11
8
Bank of America
Banking
13
9
BlackRock
Asset Management
14
10
Microsoft
Technology
8
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the years that followed, many MBAs turned to tech and consulting for their innovation, pay, and flexibility. But tech started a very public worker purge in 2022 which continued through the first half of this year. Business students are recalibrating.
“Now it’s shifted, and it’s gone the other direction. It’s a very different market than just a few years ago,” said Jeff Rugg, global account director at Universum, during a recent webinar on the rankings.
In an unsure job market, finance has resurged. Among the top 100 preferred U.S. employers for business students, 34 were finance-related, compared to 23 in tech and just 9 in consulting. Even the MBB firms – McKinsey (No. 27), Bain & Co. (No. 74), and Boston Consulting Group (No. 36) – fell out of the top 20.
Consulting, the other big MBA-destination industry, had only 9 companies on the list. The MBB – McKinsey (ranked No. 27), Bain (No. 74), and Boston Consulting Group (No. 36) – fell out of the top 20 altogether.
“The job market is moving, but not for everyone,” says Paola Ospina, a global account manager at Universum. “Companies are pulling back on entry-level hiring. This generation is facing an employment crisis, and landing a job has become a real challenge for many of them.”
Where MBAs once targeted a short list of “dream” companies, many are now casting wider nets.
While students in past surveys emphasized purpose, flexibility, and making an impact, 2025’s survey suggests business students are making more pragmatic decisions.
Career growth and competitive pay are now the top two attributes business students look for in an employer, according to Universum. A respectful workplace culture ranked third.
“There’s a completely frustrated pool of candidates being ghosted by employers, wasting their time,” Ospina says. “They’re not really being valued. And again, it’s all over social media.”
Flexibility still matters, but not necessarily remote work. Only 4% of students said they would refuse a job that didn’t offer remote options. The rest either preferred flexibility or said they could adjust.
“This generation wants to go into the office,” says Ospina, noting that younger grads started college during the pandemic, when campuses were either closed down or heavily restricted. “They are craving that in-person interaction.”
As Rugg notes, companies like JPMorgan Chase and Amazon – both of which require employees to be in the office – are ranked highly by business students.
“It should give confidence to employers in the marketplace,” he said.
Artificial intelligence was another hot topic in this year’s survey. While 75% of students said they felt positive or curious about working for an employer that uses AI, 57% said they had not developed AI-related skills.
“So there’s a bit of a disconnect,” says Nikki Trifunovic, an employer brand and talent acquisition advisor.
The gap is even more pronounced for women, who reported lower levels of AI preparedness than their male peers. For employers, that’s both a challenge and an opportunity. Companies that offer robust training and upskilling could be better positioned to attract and retain early-career MBA talent.
The 2025 Universum rankings land at a tricky moment in the U.S. labor market. On one hand, it is still adding jobs (147,000 in June alone) while unemployment sits at 4.1%. On the other?
“There is growing uncertainty for employers on what’s to happen with the tariffs and all of the policy shifts that are coming,” Ospina says. “We’ll definitely see the full effect of this as we get into the second half of the year.”
In response, many employers are moving into a conservative hiring mode. Budgets are tighter. Teams are being asked to do more with less. And companies are laser focused on hiring the right talent, especially those who can drive digital transformation.
For candidates, especially new grads, the result is a job market that feels pretty bleak. Only 35% of students felt confident that they would be able to find a job after graduation.
The uncertainty feels a lot like the pandemic when companies froze hiring and layoffs were everywhere, Ospina says. Particularly for Generation Z.
“And in their true Gen Z fashion, they’re being very vocal about it all over TikTok and social media. They’re calling it like they see it – messy, and I think, literally, the worst job market ever,” she says.
“All of that frustration we’re seeing online and in the media articles, it’s not just noise. It’s actually showing up in our data too.”
Read Universum’s 2025 report on the Most Attractive Employers In The United States here.
NEXT PAGE: The 100 most-desired employers of B-school students according to Universum’s 2025 survey.
Goldman Sachs was the second most attractive employer for business school students, according to Universum’s 2025 ranking.
Universum publishes its Most Attractive Employer Rankings every year in more than 20 countries. Rankings are a reflection of talent’s overall opinion of employers in their countries. The top 100 companies as ranked by U.S. business students are listed below.
1
JPMorgan Chase
Banking
1
2
Goldman Sachs
Financial Services
4
3
Morgan Stanley
Financial Services
12
4
Apple
Technology
3
5
Technology
2
6
Nike
Consumer Goods
5
7
Deloitte
Professional Services
11
8
Bank of America
Banking
13
9
BlackRock
Asset Management
14
10
Microsoft
Technology
8
11
Amazon
E‑commerce / Technology
10
12
Netflix
Media & Entertainment
6
13
Spotify
Media & Entertainment
7
14
Fidelity Investments
Financial Services
15
15
Charles Schwab
Financial Services
20
16
EY (Ernst & Young)
Professional Services
16
17
The Walt Disney Company
Media & Entertainment
9
18
KPMG
Professional Services
22
19
PwC
Professional Services
23
20
Wells Fargo
Banking
28
21
Blackstone
Private Equity
43
22
L’Oréal Groupe
Consumer Goods
37
23
American Express
Financial Services
33
24
Lockheed Martin
Aerospace & Defense
40
25
Berkshire Hathaway
Conglomerate
39
26
Vanguard
Financial Services
27
27
McKinsey & Company
Management Consulting
36
28
Mercedes-Benz Group
Automotive
26
29
The Coca-Cola Company
Consumer Goods
35
30
Tesla
Automotive / Tech
17
31
Capital One
Financial Services
45
32
Patagonia
Retail / Apparel
24
33
Delta Air Lines
Airlines
18
34
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Government
30
35
Nintendo
Technology / Entertainment
21
36
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
Management Consulting
44
37
Sony
Technology / Entertainment
25
38
Warner Bros. Discovery
Media & Entertainment
29
39
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Government
34
40
BMW Group
Automotive
42
41
Marriott International
Hospitality
38
42
Ford Motor Company
Automotive
49
43
adidas
Retail / Apparel
47
44
Airbnb
Travel / Tech
55
45
Estée Lauder
Consumer Goods
73
46
PNC Financial Services Group
Banking
64
47
Toyota
Automotive
41
48
Target
Retail
31
49
Edward Jones
Financial Services
69
50
PepsiCo
Consumer Goods
59
51
Paramount
Media & Entertainment
46
52
General Motors
Automotive
66
53
IBM
Technology
70
54
National Geographic
Media / Publishing
32
55
SpaceX
Aerospace
53
56
Johnson & Johnson
Healthcare
87
57
Boeing
Aerospace
51
58
Hilton
Hospitality
58
59
Meta
Technology / Social Media
85
60
Federal Reserve
Government
54
61
Procter & Gamble
Consumer Goods
99
62
LVMH
Luxury Goods
71
63
United Airlines
Airlines
48
64
United Nations
International Organization
62
65
Citi
Banking
86
66
American Airlines
Airlines
52
67
Zara
Retail / Apparel
67
68
Adobe
Technology
56
69
TD Bank Group
Banking
—
70
S&P Global
Financial Data
91
71
Starbucks
Retail / Food
75
72
Mayo Clinic
Healthcare
65
73
Barclays
Banking
—
74
Bain & Company
Management Consulting
88
75
Nordstrom
Retail
92
76
Southwest Airlines
Airlines
63
77
Salesforce
Technology
—
78
State Farm Insurance
Insurance
84
79
UBS
Banking
—
80
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Government
60
81
Mastercard
Financial Services
98
82
Under Armour
Retail / Apparel
100
83
Department of Defense (DOD)
Government
57
84
Northwestern Mutual
Insurance
—
85
Department of the Treasury (USDT)
Government
90
86
Electronic Arts
Entertainment / Gaming
80
87
Visa
Financial Services
74
88
Oracle
Technology
—
89
Robinhood
Fintech
—
90
Deutsche Bank
Banking
61
91
Intel
Technology
76
92
Live Nation Entertainment
Entertainment
89
93
Honda
Automotive
81
94
United States Department of State (DOS)
Government
96
95
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Government / Healthcare
—
96
Bloomberg
Financial Media
82
97
MGM Resorts International
Hospitality
94
98
Walmart
Retail
93
99
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Government
—
100
The Hershey Company
Consumer Goods
—
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